WHY ESUT WILL FAIL ACCREDITATION

Campaign to Save ESUT
Enugu StateUniversity of Science and
Technology,
Enugu.
01 June, 2012.

The Vice Chancellor
Enugu StateUniversity of Science and
Technology,
Enugu.

Dear Sir,

WHY ESUT WILL FAIL ACCREDITATION
The National Universities Commission (NUC) had embarked on different categories of accreditation exercise. This time, the NUC will be conducting both Academic programme and institutional accreditation exercise. Any university in Nigeria which has NUC accreditation of its programme up to 70% will face institutional accreditation coupled with other routine programme accreditation which NUC had embarked in the past.

The reason behind institutional accreditation was brought about by the astronomic rate of decay in our universities coupled with the visionless, uncreative and insensitivity of most of our universities. The consequence being that no Nigerian university is a force to reckon with in Africa not to talk about the world. This situation is essentially why Nigerian students top the league of students studying in most foreign university in Asia, Europe, America and Africa.

However, it is sad that as many universities in the country are strategising and preparing themselves for these rounds of accreditation, ESUT is increasingly by day stifled with confusion on the course of action to take due to excessive politicking, ineptitude, ignorance, inefficiency, ineffectiveness, laxity, unproductivity and uncreativity, just to name a few, of the vice chancellor and the cabal that had held down ESUT over the years. In this series, we will discuss and adduce several reasons why ESUT will fail accreditation:

 1.       No Strategic Plan for the Institution
It will be recalled that we had earlier in our releases, alerted all the stakeholders in and outside of ESUT that ESUT has no strategic plan. We even stated that the Vice Chancellor, Prof C.O. Onyeji after inaugurating the Strategic Plan Committee went to sleep (sic: forgot that such committee existed). We had severally written on this issue without any effort by the Management or the Vice Chancellor or even the Strategic Plan Committee doing anything as to addressing this all important condiment for a successful and optimal running of our institution and also succeeding in institutional accreditation.

However, the recent directive by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. C.O. Onyeji to all the faculties, directorates, departments and units to submit their articulated positions on the matter is a welcomed but belated effort of the Vice Chancellor. This trend where Prof. C.O. Onyeji, the Vice Chancellor of ESUT must be prodded severally before he wakes up to his responsibilities is anomalous, counter-activity and counter-productive to the smooth running of things in ESUT. Whereas several other universities had published their strategic plan for their institution, ESUT is still giving directives to articulate and send to the committee. Recall that Prof. C.O. Onyeji has already served 2 years and this committee set by him had been idle for over 1 year, with this fire brigade approach, ESUT will once again do a very shoddy job at the Strategic Plan Committee. (More on this in our subsequent release).
2.       Mass Exodus of ESUT Staff
We reported severally how ESUT administration is sadistically disposed to staff and students and grossly insensitive to their plights. Many academic and non-academic staff in ESUT resign and get almost instantly academic positions in other universities with elevation. This trend has cost ESUT several of her senior academics with PhDs who have been diabolically stagnated over the years in ESUT without any reason. Is it not instructive that many senior lecturers in ESUT are employed in other universities, even federal universities as professors? Almost all other universities in the South East have been poaching on ESUT academics by advertising for staff position where many lecturers or PhD holders in ESUT are easily employed with better prospects in preparation for accreditation by NUC.



Consequently upon this gross and sadistic disposition to the plight of lecturers, ESUT has high dilapidated staff members in different departments. The Vice Chancellor and his team believed that the only way to address this anomalous mass exodus of ESUT staff is by conversion of non-academic staff with Masters degree to lecturers and mischievously stating wrongly the status of the list of academic staff of different departments in ESUT.

For example, in many departments in ESUT, the full-time lecturers are as small as one and as many as 4 or 5, all others are adjuncts lecturers. Retired or even dead lecturers are still reported as serving their departments in full-time capacity!!! What a sham!!! If the NUC and Enugu State Government conduct an un-manipulated audit of academic staff with a view to ascertaining the actual full-time lecturers in ESUT, NUC will quickly disaccredit many programmes and departments in ESUT, and the government of Enugu State will ascertain how much of public funds are embezzled by fraudulent representation of adjunct lecturers as full-time staff, retired and dead staff as still in the school staff list!

Furthermore, some power brokers are busy victimising, intimidating, chasing away and scandalising decent and quality academics in ESUT. These victims of treachery and oppression now look elsewhere. Is it not worrisome that an acclaimed academic with attested moral and descent disposition like Professor Rosemary O. Igbo then of Faculty of Education, ESUT, who was hurriedly and treacherously indicted by Prof. A.E. Uzoagulu diabolically lorded Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee over a fathom, manufactured, useless and one of the most foolish allegation of all time. This senior and erudite academic whose promotion to the rank of professor supposed to be with effect from 2006 got instead a demotion nay a demolition to lecturer I with effect from 2012 as hurriedly and treacherously recommended by Prof. Uzoagulu and rubber-stamp by inept vice chancellor, Prof. C.O. Onyeji.

However, we are happy and grateful to God that the malevolent, clandestine and diabolic acts of Prof A.E. Uzoagulu failed woefully as a Federal University, Nnamdi AzikiweUniversity, hurriedly employed this erudite, committed and dedicated academic, Prof. R.O. Igbo at the Rank of PROFESSOR!!! This amplifies our cries and shouts at the rate of diabolic and sadistic injustice against principled staff in ESUT.

Once again, we appeal to the Visitor and other senior stakeholders of ESUT to please save ESUT from this evil, Prof A.E. Uzoagulu. He (Prof Uzoagulu) is now the locust that is turning ESUT academic community into a desolate desert. Is it not the same Prof A.E. Uzoagulu that engineered nay assisted Dr Ntude in writing fresh and unverifiable allegations against Prof C. Owo? Is it not this Prof. A.E. Uzoagulu that converted his diabolic Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee into a peace mission in order to strike off a convicted disciplinary case against Dr Ntude so that Dr Ntude will be promoted a professor? Why the double standard? Anyone reported to the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee must be indicted if he or she is principled and acquitted if he or she is able to pay the required bribe in cash or kind or both to the Chairman, Prof A.E. Uzoagaulu. (More on this will come subsequently).
 3.       Insensitivity to the Plights of Students
In institutional accreditation, students’ rate of turnover and their perception of their lecturers and general administration are examined and evaluated. To this therefore, we welcome attempt by management of ESUT to evaluate and rate the academic staff in ESUT using several interesting parameters (60 of them) in a university wide exercise. This exercise is instructive how the system can change if we all fight for its change. However, it is doubtful if the outcome will not be manipulated. For example, Prof Igbo cited above is the most hardworking in her department and one of the best in her faculty, according to staff, students and past students interviewed. She is part of the individuals rated, but we gathered that the powers that frustrated her in ESUT are on the mission of cover-up by demanding that she should not be among the rated and are willing to rig the outcome against their blacklisted, but dedicated and principled lecturers.

 To be continued.


 God bless ESUT

 Cc
His Excellency, the Governor of Enugu State
Hon. Commissioner for Education, EnuguState
Deputy Vice Chancellor ESUT
Registrar, ESUT
ASUU, ESUT
SSANU, ESUT
NASU, ESUT
Student Union, ESUT
Ohaneze Ndigbo
The Clergy:
His Lordship, Bishop E.O. Chukwuma
His Lordship, Bishop C.V.C. Onaga
Msgr Obiora Ike
ESUT Governing Council
University Community
The General Public